Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin took exception with the way the officials handled his team's seven-game playoff series with New York -- a series that ended Monday with the Rangers capturing Game 7.
"The refereeing ... you understand it yourself. How can there be no penalties at all (on one team) during the playoffs?" Ovechkin said in Russian (the interview was translated by Slava Malamud, a longtime writer who has covered Ovechkin). "I am not saying there was a phone call from (the league), but someone just wanted Game 7. For the ratings. You know, the lockout, escrow, the league needs to make profit. …
"I don't know whether the refs were predisposed against us or the league," he said. "But to not give obvious penalties (against the Rangers), while for us any little thing was immediately penalized."
